A Letterkenny Councillor has called for the Bonagee Link to be prioritised as the first part of the Ten-T project to alleviate traffic pressure in the town.
A bridge over the River Swilly is being proposed as a relief road from Ballyraine to Bonagee.
Councillor Michael McBride has urged the council to ask Transport Infrastructure Ireland to work on the Bonagee link first, before progressing to the other phases.
The Ballybofey and Stranorlar bypass and the N14 Manorcunningham to Lifford/Strabane/A5 Link are also part of the major Priority Route Improvement Project.
Cllr McBride said that each of the three phases have their own merit, but Letterkenny sees a larger convergence of traffic.
He told this week’s Letterkenny-Milford MD meeting: “In Letterkenny there is absolute gridlock at peak traffic times. It’s not uncommon now to speak to somebody that says it’s taking up to 45 mins to get from one side of the town to another.
“The difference in the Bonagee link is no matter where you are coming from in Donegal, everything is converging in Letterkenny.”
Cllr McBride said that the upcoming switch-on of the traffic lights at the Polestar Roundabout may relieve traffic, but “it is not going to have a major impact.”
The council advised that the TEN-T Project, at this current stage, does not separate out any scheme individually, the schemes are being collectively brought together for development consent to An Bord Pleanála. Cllr McBride was told that any attempt to separate the project at this stage may cause significant delays.
“It is only after the granting of development consent that we would expect TII / Department of Transport / Government to then consider with Donegal County Concil if the entire project would be advanced, or individual schemes advanced on a phased basis – with availability of funding being one of the key elements at that time,” said the response from the council.
Cllr McBride asked Donegal County Council to write to the TII on the matter.
